The Absence Of Roman Reigns Shows The Vacuum Of Starpower

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Last Monday night the entire world was shocked to learn of Roman Reigns' Leukemia situation at the start of Raw. It was shocking and a genuinely heartbreaking ending to the odyssey that has been the push of Roman Reigns. After all these years of complaints about forcefully pushing him, miscasting him, it's a real life/life threatening situation that brings it all to a seemingly conclusive ending. However, while we as fans may be sad and we were hard in the face with such a dark reality, after just one simple night, it became very clear that reality is far grimmer for the WWE than it is for fans.

It's a simple question. Who fills the gap? Who becomes WWE's top star now? You'd think with such a talented roster that has gathered the absolute best wrestlers in the world in the post-WCW era, the answer would be easy, right? Well sadly, we live in a WWE world that has sacrificed every single star in the name of pushing a man who is now out of their reach.

Balor vs Lashley from this past Monday​

A Finn Balor/Bobby Lashley match in 2016 would probably be a big NJPW or NXT Takeover match. But in 2018, it was a dead match that drew no heat on Monday Night Raw. Bobby Lashley has transitioned off a failed babyface run where WWE failed to present his return properly to now be in an ill-fated heel run where he poses like it's 1994 while being handled by a manager ordered to be intentionally abnoxious to channel-changing levels. Then there's how low Finn Balor has come. Once a prospect to face Brock Lesnar and before that he went from a main roster debut to winning the company's new World title in less than a month to now being barely a midcard star.

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Then you see the main event of the night. Drew McIntyre/Dolph Ziggler vs Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins. What seemed like a mad scramble to reshape their roster (will Elias also facing a quick change in character the same night) after the Roman announcement. It saw Braun Strowman turn babyface a mere 2 months after he turned heel. It also saw Dean Ambrose turn on Seth Rollins seemingly hoping to tug at the very real hearstrings coming off the Roman/Leukemia dillema. But Seth himself is damaged goods, seemingly three times over after a very badly handled return from injury in 2015, a very troubled babyface turn later that same year and only finally making it click this past Spring only to undermine it with a Shield reunion. If WWE is pegging their hopes on Seth Rollins to replace Roman Reigns, they're gonna have to work with a lot of self-created baggage.

Two months after his heel turn, Braun turns face again.​

And outside of Seth Rollins, it really seems like a barren landscape of stars given how Finn Balor was treated. Braun Strowman's aura as a monster has already suffered greatly after he was sacrificed for the sake of Roman Reigns coming off Summerslam. Former top star in TNA Bobby Roode is half past an afterthought on the Raw roster. Drew McIntyre is clearly a pet project for the WWE. Hes probably the first person since Roman Reigns himself where WWE is actually very careful with preserving his superstar presence. But clearly, it will not be as a babyface. That would take a long time to cultivate and they do not have that luxury.

Perhaps they could poach someone from Smackdown to fill the role but you run into the same, exact problem. Who outside of AJ Styles could be the top star of all WWE? Would WWE kill the brand extension just to have AJ work both shows? Or would they put their hat on Daniel Bryan? Someone who despite his popularity, which has also dwindled due to a terrible feud with Big Cass and a mostly odd but not really being great feud with The Miz, the WWE have always been apprahensive on? Now they actually have several reasons for not really seeing him as a top star. He's critical of their direction now and is also carrying a big stigma of being injury-prone.

Whatever ideas they had for Wrestlemania, they were obviously dashed. But before they can even think of filling that up, they have to see just who is supposed to carry WWE's main program which has been very poor in quality all year long (and maybe longer depending on who you ask) because of how they've treated anyone that isn't a part-time star or the now sidelined Roman Reigns. And the truth is those are now slim pickings by their own design. Their poor handling of talent has placed them in a very hard spot. Maybe not to fill a 60,000 stadium. The name brand alone seems to do that at this point. But just to carry the program for the next two years or for even longer. Roman may come back. Hell, any sensible human being would want him healthy. But things will not be the same when he hopefully does. They will not be the same after last Monday night. That torch is now up for grabs. Who takes it?

your right it does but its self made it is not the superstars fault or lack of effort its creative and Vince. They where so busy doing everything in there power to make roman what to many didnt want him to be they forgot they had a whole roster they should be building. Seth, Dean, Drew, Braun, Ziggler (i know many will disagree), Roode, Balor, Owens and Bray could all lead the way or as a min like in the old days dont have a top guy but have a top section. Im not going to say i want the attitude era back as i dont but one thing they did have then that you could and should still be doing is having that top tier that are all always being built is legit contenders to be the top guy. even if it is only 3 or 4 guys thats how you A have a strong title picture and B have cover for "the top guy" for what ever reason being of TV be it romans situation and injury or just needing time of.

It is something that wouldnt be a problem if they hadnt put all there eggs in one basket but sadly WWE seems to do that now and have done for years. If you look at when Cena was on top if he got injuryed or written of tv for whatever reason the show dropped not becuase the talent wasnt good enough but because you had no reason to care about any of them as everything was geared around ALWAYS making Cena number 1 until this changes WWE will not get even close to how good it once was which for the talent the fans is a shame

I don't know. It's ridiculous but the fans seemed to be eating Braun back up last night. They loved him. It's like they completely forgot what an ass he was for the past couple of months and they saw him as their Lord and savior. Same with Elias.

Roman wasn't much of a top star. He hasn't even held the title that long and before that he was spending quite a bit of time putting other guys over. His legend could end up being bigger than he ever was. If he beats cancer, he could be bigger than ever, then I think he becomes the star that is hard to lose. Now his exit is sad but not dire.

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Agreed about Braun. People want Braun to be the guy or at least more the guy than the guy who doesn't seem interested in being a wrestler. Kind of a "who knew?" moment. I would very much like to see them do something with Finn Balor other than imitate an imitation of the NWO, but crowd is behind Strowman and seems the likelier candidate moving forward. He pushes buildings over and that helps.